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Aircraft Wash Shootout: Fleet Wash a Favorite

Wear anti-slip footwear that provides solid footing. Youll likely be working with stepladders, perhaps while balancing wash brushes that can damage control surfaces and antennas should you slip. The hangar floor gets slick. Ours was slickened from runoff and nine overflowing wash buckets filled with the proper mixture of soap and water. As we learned, some of the stronger washes work best when undiluted, while serious degreasing and stain removal mean applying the cleaner straight from the bottle. We tried those first.

Larry Anglisano
Verified

Let’s not over think this. Picking a wet-wash product to clean the aircraft isn’t much different than selecting one to clean your vehicle. If you trust it on your cherished Harley-Davidson or show-car paint and accessories, there should be equal confidence using it on the Bonanza. It should be gentle enough to hit everything, including the Plexiglas, not have corrosive properties and rinse off easily.

But there are an overwhelming number of aircraft-specific wet-wash products to choose from. Do a search for wet washes on popular aircraft supply websites and you’ll understand. Wet washes are just that—dilute the soap with water in a wash bucket and go to town with a wash mitt or mop. Suds are a must.

Larry Anglisano

Editor in Chief Larry Anglisano has been a staple at Aviation Consumer since 1995. An active land, sea and glider pilot, Larry has over 30 years’ experience as an avionics repairman and flight test pilot. He’s the editorial director overseeing sister publications Aviation Safety magazine, IFR magazine and is a regular contributor to KITPLANES magazine with his Avionics Bootcamp column.